“A Girl Like Me”
Just a quick post here. This is a documentary we watched in class a few weeks back during one of our “culture in medicine” discussion sessions. It was filmed by Kiri Davis while she was still an undergrad and has won a few film festival awards. Its short, a little over seven minutes, and is definitely worth watching.
It addresses our lingering associations with dark v light skin, through two methods. The first is a discussion of beauty with African-American girls with various shades of skin. They talk about how even in their community, light skin is the ideal and darker individuals are derided and encouraged to try to look less “African”. This is a phenomenon that many caucasians may not be aware of, but among many minority populations this association between european-looking people and all things good has led many to use dangerous skin bleaching creams and elaborate hair-straightening methods. This is common even outside the US and we saw these same things manifest in Ghana when we were there in 2006.
The second portion of the video recreates the famous doll experiment from the Brown v Board of Education trial and I found it very compelling. African-American children were asked to choose between a darker skinned and lighter skinned doll and were asked questions about each. You should watch the video for the result but I think one of the most striking moments in the film occurs during this segment around 4 minutes and 45 seconds in. It really drives home the negative impact that these race associations have on children growing up with darker skin, and its shocking to see how our society’s association of “black” with “evil, dirty, ugly, and brutish” has permeated these children’s psyches. When you hear people talk about “institutionalized racism” that’s woven into the fabric of our society, this is, in part, what they’re talking about. How can you be expected to succeed when you grow up your whole life with the unquestioned understanding that you’re worse?
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